The Yankees utility players, Ronald
Torreyes (0.3 WAR), Tyler Wade (-0.1 WAR) and Neil Walker (-0.1 WAR) had a
combined WAR of .1 in 2018, and while they are all serviceable as utility
players or as players off the bench, this is an area where the Yankees could use
an upgrade in 2019.

Series Preview: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels (6/12-6/14)

The Yankees begin their West Coast road trip with a visit to Los Angeles to take on the Angels, who
currently sit at 33-33, and second place in the AL West. The Yankees bats will
look to stay on fire, as they have scored 30 runs and hit nine home runs in the
last two games. The Angels will be without their best player, Mike Trout, for
this series, as they have been since late May, which will ease the mind of pitching
coach Larry Rothschild and the entire pitching staff.

Game
One (Monday, June 12th | First Pitch: 10:07 PM ET)

Masahiro
Tanaka (5-6, 6.55 ERA) vs. Alex Meyer (2-3, 4.08 ERA)

After his start was pushed back
a day, Masahiro Tanaka will face the Angels in the series opener looking to
have at least a quality start, as his last two outings have continued his
season trend of getting crushed by opposing hitters. Tanaka has surrendered 17
home runs in just 66 innings this year, and will need to keep the ball in the
park if he wants to make it past the fifth inning. The Yanks have also lost the
last five games in which Tanaka has pitched. Tanaka will be on five days rest,
and has had his two best starts of the year when pitching on five or more days
of rest, giving the Yankees and their fans a bit of hope.

AP Photo

The Angels will send Alex Meyer
to the mound, who is coming off his best start of the season, a performance
where he threw six innings without allowing an earned run and only giving up
three hits. Meyer is a second-year pitcher who has solid numbers so far this
year, but has had major control issues, walking 24 batters in only 35.1
innings. Look for the Yankees to take advantage of Meyers control issues, and
possibly steal some bases in the process.

Game Two (Tuesday, June 13th | First Pitch:
10:07 PM ET)

C.C. Sabathia (7-2, 3.66 ERA) vs. JC Ramirez
(6-4, 4.33 ERA)

The
second game of the series will see C.C. Sabathia try to continue his winning
ways, as he has picked up the win in each of his last five starts, and has seen
his ERA drop from 5.77 to 3.66 in that time frame. Sabathia has also only
allowed three earned runs in his last five starts, meaning that the Angels will
have a tall task in front of them.

The
Yanks will see JC Ramirez, who was a relief pitcher his entire career up until
this year. He has made 11 starts this season, going at least four innings in
all those starts. The long ball has been a problem for Ramirez as a starter, as
he has given up 12 in his 11 starts, and he will be facing the team that has
hit 100 home runs in its first 60 games coming off a weekend where they scored
38 runs.

Game Three (Wednesday, June 14 | First
Pitch: 10:00 PM ET)

Michael Pineda (7-3, 3.39 ERA) vs. Matt
Shoemaker (6-3, 4.22 ERA)

Michael
Pineda will get the ball in the final game of the three game set and will look
to continue his solid season. This game is not in Yankee Stadium, however, and
that could be a problem, as Pineda has struggled away from the stadium this
year. In his five starts on the road, Pineda is 1-2 with a 5.96 ERA, while
having a 1.96 ERA at home. Pineda has won four of his last five starts, but
will need to shake his road woes to come away with the victory.

Matt
Shoemaker, who has been the Angels most consistent arm in the rotation, will
start on Wednesday night. Shoemaker has been great in night games this year,
6-0 with a 3.08 ERA, but has struggled when pitching at home. Shoemaker has
only faced the Bombers twice before in his career, and has lost both outings.

Players to Watch: Yankees

AP Photo

Aaron Judge: It
seems as if Judge is one of the players to watch for every series; but how can
he not be? Judge is coming off a weekend where he hit three home runs,
including the longest of his career and the second longest since they started officially
tracking homers in 2009, a 495 foot home run that cleared the left field
bleachers. Judge is doing a lot more than just hitting long balls though, as he
now leads the American League in all three Triple Crown categories, hitting
.344 with 21 home runs and 47 RBIs. Judge also has been running the bases well
and playing a great right field, showing he is the complete package. Look for
Judge to possibly do more damage this series, as he has some favorable pitching
matchups to look forward to.

Didi Gregorius: The
entire Yankees lineup has been hitting, so it almost has gone unnoticed that
Didi Gregorius is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak heading into this
series. Didi has been great ever since he came back from the DL, and has turned
it up a notch since the calendar turned to June. Didi is hitting .378 in the
month of June, including three home runs and some marvelous plays at short. Despite
hitting towards the bottom of the order, Didi has been a pain to deal with for
opposing pitchers, and will look to extend his hitting streak on the West Coast.

Players to Watch: Angels

AP Photo

Albert Pujols: After a
very solid May, Albert Pujols has been ice cold in June, batting .161 with an
abysmal on base percentage. His home run numbers are not where they usually are
at this point of the season, yet he still has 45 RBIs, which puts him fourth in
the AL in that category. The Angels could really use a hot streak from Pujols, and
it may have started yesterday, as he hit his first home run since he hit number
600 on June 3rd. Pujols went deep in Sundays game vs the Astros, so look for
him to possibly gain some momentum in this series.

Eric Young Jr.: Eric
Young Jr. has only been in the Angels lineup for a couple of weeks, but he has
gotten off to a very solid start, going 14-44 (.318) in his first 13 games.
Young is seen as a sort of MLB journeyman, but has been producing for the
Angels in his short time with the team since Mike Trout got hurt on May 29th.
Young, like Pujols, homered in their game Sunday, which can be a bad sign for
the Yanks considering Masahiro Tanaka makes the start Monday, giving Young Jr. a
great chance to go deep again.

The
Yankees will look to keep the momentum they gained from taking five of six
against the Orioles and Red Sox, and possibly continue their ridiculous streak
of scoring eight or more runs in five consecutive games. The Yanks will need
some good innings out of their starters, specifically Tanaka, as the Yanks were
forced to use several arms out of the bullpen in Sunday's win.

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The scene was set for the
young budding Bomber squad last fall after finishing their season a game away
from a World Series berth. They were the team that arrived a year too early,
and another deep playoff run would be the goal, but then an old friend threw a
wrench in those plans. Derek Jeter put gargantuan slugger Giancarlo Stanton on
the market, and Stanton dictated his transfer with a full no-trade clause. The
Giants and Cardinals among others threw their name into the ring, but who did
he choose? The Yankees and Dodgers, it seemed to be a battle of baseballs
powerhouses, but the Yankees had an advantage over their former neighbors,
payroll flexibility. They were able to use this into an absolute steal of the
reigning NL MVP, and the Yankees were thrust into a world series or bust year.
The season was historic, they set the season home run record without Gary
Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, and Aaron Judge for most if not all of the
year, but it ended in a bust at the hands of…

The
speculation started during the regular season, even prior to his trade from the
Baltimore Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Where would Manny Machado go upon
his free agency at the end of the 2018 regular season? And, with that, which
teams would be knocking on his door? No
sooner did the Yankees’ regular season come to a close after their fated ending
in the American League Division Series, the talks of Machado coming to the
Bronx took off as though pushed by a speeding 4 Train behind Yankee Stadium. The
truth of the matter is that the rumors started even prior to Machado’s free
agency being on the horizon -- they started
at the trade deadline.

Yankee fans are left with more questions than answers following Clint Frazier’s injury riddled 2018. Frazier suffered through concussion symptoms throughout his 2018 campaign, which saw him appear in 69 games between the minors and the big leagues. Now, Yankees fans wonder what 2019 will hold for the 24 year-old.

Miguel Andujar’s 2018
arrival in the big leagues on April 1st had been much anticipated by Yankee
fans and we were rewarded with a Rookie of the Year performance by one of the
most exciting players in all of Major League Baseball.

Corey Kluber is the difference
maker and impact arm the Yankees need atop their rotation. In 2017 and
2018, Yankee fans wished ace-like status on Luis Severino, but his
inconsistencies have left him just short of owning the name. Kluber, 32,
has been the definition of consistent for the Cleveland Indians, winning 18+
games four out of the last five years and winning 20 games in 2018 for the
first time in his career. Kluber has posted an ERA below 3.50 every season
since 2014, and has struck out at least 220 hitters in the same span. Kluber
keeps getting better, and is not showing any signs of regression. Kluber is an
ace, the ace the Yankees need.

There’s
no easy way to answer this question. Or, rather, there’s no one answer. The
surrounding factors change, creating different situations and, as such,
different fits -- both from a financial and from a team standpoint. A case can
be made to bring back either of these free agents, or both of them, or…
neither. But it’s almost impossible to make a blanket answer that fits in every
possible scenario.

It
felt like a shoe-in. So much so, in fact, that I advocated
for what I thought was the inevitable all the way back in September, before the
BBWAA even announced the nominees for American League Rookie of the Year.

First acquired in a relatively
small-time, 40-man sell-off move around this time last year that sent 1B
Garrett Cooper and LHP Caleb Smith to Miami, Michael King was seen as a young
right hander with promise, but one still years away from making any significant
Major League impact.At the time, the
important part of that trade was the $250,000 international bonus pool money
Miami included, which we all thought was to be used on Shohei Ohtani.Ohtani, obviously, never ended up in the Bronx
and will not pitch at all in 2019 after undergoing offseason Tommy John
Surgery.

Flashback to July 3rd -
the Mariners had just won their eighth consecutive game, putting them 20 games
above .500 and in possession of the third-best record in baseball. Everything
was going right in Seattle, and it surely seemed as if the M’s infamous 17-year
playoff drought would finally come to an end. Just two and a half months later
on September 22nd, the Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention,
following a dreadful summer slump and the concurrent surge of the
division-rival Athletics.

I
cannot count the number of times I tweeted about the Yankees and their problem
with RISP and situational offense over the course of the 2018 season. Of
course, the Yankees won 100 games on the regular season, and that statistic is
nothing to sniff at. They also claimed the single-season home run record. And
that’s great.